Amazon Go: a grocery store with no checkout lines

Who says that brick and mortar stores have to make way for online storefronts? Certainly not Amazon, as the company recently launched its Amazon Go grocery store in Seattle.

Customers simply use the Amazon Go app to enter the store, using the app’s QR code at the turnstile, then take whatever items they need. There are no checkout lines or cash registers involved in the process.

“Anything you pick up is automatically added to your virtual cart,” the company explained in a video. If you change your mind about the product, you simply have to put it back on the shelf and your cart will be updated.

The technology behind Amazon Go is rather interesting too.

“We used computer vision, deep learning algorithms and sensor fusion, much like you’d find in self-driving cars,” the company elaborated in the video.

Amazon Go could very well be the model for grocery stores of the future

As for available items, the store features the usual staples (milk, bread, eggs etc), ready to eat breakfast/lunch/dinner options, as well as artisanal cheese and the like.

Want to get in on the action? Well, aside from being in Seattle only, there is another reason why you’ll have to wait…

“Amazon Go is currently open to Amazon employees in our Beta program, and will open to the public in early 2017,” Amazon explained on its website.

Author | Hadlee Simons

Terrible puns make Hadlee Simons difficult to work with, but he brings over seven years of tech journalism experience to the table. When he's not at work or watching motorsport, he's in the foetal position on a jiu jitsu mat. More